RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Don’t tell Adrease Jackson he is too early to take this stage.
The dynamic sophomore, brimming with a can’t-stop-me attitude, knew his Tesoro boys basketball squad was more worthy than its No. 8 playoff seeding.
On Friday night, Jackson was quick to hit on nearly every mark, manipulating his way to the rim with ease to help the host Titans take down top-seeded Thousand Oaks, 67-62, in a CIF-SS Division 2AA quarterfinal.
Tesoro will go on the road to face No. 5 seed Canyon in the semifinals on Tuesday.
“This is super special,” Jackson said. “We were the underdog. We always knew it. But we have the heart, so we knew we’d come out on top.”
Jackson attacked the basket with confidence, beating the Lancers’ man-to-man defense and double-team combos for much of the night. He totaled 29 points and nine rebounds and converted 9 of 9 free throws for the Titans (19-10).
“We needed those buckets,” Tesoro coach Steve Garrett said. “We started to be really aggressive down low. (Thousand Oaks) guarding him one-on-one – that’s a great matchup for us.”
Jackson, a 6-foot-6 forward, tallied 14 points in the second quarter and scored his team’s final eight points of the half to help build a 35-32 lead.
Teammate Nick Pallas, a vital facilitator, scored 15 points and added 16 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks.
“I’m really proud of our team’s composure,” Garrett said. “We made a ton of defensive stops and hit the tough shots.”
Thousand Oaks trailed by as many as nine points midway through the fourth, but after key forward Luke Romacker fouled out, Matt Hauser’s 3-pointer cut the Lancers’ deficit to 64-60 with 1:17 remaining.
